Monday, May 24, 2010
No Longer ‘Lost,’ but Still Searching
As the final two and a half hours of “Lost” unspooled on Sunday night, Desmond and Jack walked into a cave for the final showdown with evil, and Desmond said, “This doesn’t matter, him destroying the island, you destroying him.” Jack, serious to the end, replied, “All of this matters.”
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It was the sort of thesis-antithesis, drama-of-ideas moment that the show had always specialized in. The problem was that several hours later, after the show’s mystical, walk-into-the-white-light ending, it was Desmond who would be proved more right. The battle Jack was about to engage in with the monster inhabiting the body of John Locke mattered in the way that the proper placement of X’s and Y’s matters in an equation — meaning on “Lost” always having been largely abstract, as if it were a product of flow charts rather than imagination.
But when the entire island story line we had been following for six seasons turned out not to matter very much within the internal organization of the show’s narrative — to be largely disconnected from that final quasi-religious resolution of the plot — it was deflating, despite the warm feelings the finale otherwise inspired.
Most of the post-mortem discussion of the finale will involve parsing and grading that final 10-minute sequence. Before conducting our own analysis, however, let’s talk about the previous 140 minutes of “The End.”
It’s not uncommon — in fact, it’s probably the norm — for successful television shows to soften up as the seasons pass and viewers (and creators) get more attached to characters and more personally invested in how stories play out. It happened this season with “Lost,” and it reached its apogee on Sunday night in an episode that was largely a pleasant, nostalgic wallow for the show’s fans.
Tonally, the episode was dominated by the sentimental machinations of the sideways story line, where Desmond continued to act as a sort of spiritual mother hen or reunion organizer: gathering his flock of characters and leading them to reclaim their memories of the island, one after another, like nonbelievers seeing the light at a tent meeting.
Some of those moments were expertly orchestrated and very moving. Sun and Jin, whose memories were unlocked when they saw an ultrasound image of their baby, Ji-yeon, suddenly were able to speak English again, a plot trick that has always worked. Sawyer and Juliet touched fingers over a candy bar and jumped back as if from an electric shock. Jack’s final memory montage, when he saw all the moments in which he had raced to save others, was lovely.
Meanwhile, the island story, in keeping with a season-long trend, was eventful but strangely thrill-free.
The production crew was never able to make the cave holding the all-important, island-binding golden light look more impressive than a water ride at a cheap amusement park, and it was a major problem that the scenes of Desmond and Jack lugging various stones around the sacred pool inspired giggles rather than awe.
“The End” exemplified how pedestrian the action in “Lost” became over the years, a falloff that began even in Season 1. There was nothing to make you tense up in the scenes of Jack and Locke fighting on the cliff or of boulders rolling around as the island threatened to disintegrate. (One exception: Kate telling Sawyer “I’ll see you at the boat” and leaping off the cliff into the ocean. But that’s a hard scene to mess up.)
Now let’s get back to the ending of “The End,” in which the big reveal was that Jack Shephard, to all appearances a divorced father and successful surgeon in the sideways universe, was in fact dead. So were all the other Losties who had gathered in the church. The scenario was cleverly constructed to remove the possibility that they had been dead all along (a possibility I erroneously considered, and blogged about, before rewatching the scene), or that any of the events on the island or in the off-island lives of the Oceanic 6 had been other than real.
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Monday, May 17, 2010
Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart Have 'Gotten Better At Hiding'
I was going to post an Iron Man. vs . robin hood article but since i love the twilight series i couldn't help but post this one because i want to know.. are they or aren't they?!
Last week on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," Robert Pattinson joked that the truth about his are-they-or-aren't-they relationship with Kristen Stewart is that she's pregnant. Responded KStew, "He really loves to shock people because he thinks it's funny."
That sort of charged banter between the two "Twilight" stars speaks to one of the biggest mysteries behind the scenes of the vampire franchise: No one really knows if Pattinson and Stewart are dating. And that relationship ambiguity has only increased now that photos of the two out in public together are harder to come by.
"I don't know if this is the actual reason why, but we have gotten better at hiding over the last year," Pattinson told USA Today directly after the "Oprah" taping.
"That's totally the reason," Stewart added. "They just make up a story to go along with the pictures. If they never get the picture, there's no story. We are just good hiders now."
It's surprising, to some extent, that she would even address any aspect of her relationship with Pattinson. Earlier this month, Stewart told Elle, "I would never cheapen my relationships by talking about them." And last year, she slammed the romance rumors by saying, "I probably would've answered it if people hadn't made such a big deal about it. But I'm not going to give the fiending an answer. I know that people are really funny about 'Well, you chose to be an actor, why don't you just f---ing give your whole life away?! Can I have your firstborn child?' "
Yet the speculation continues, perhaps with good reason. The USA Today article notes that for a portion of the interview, Stewart placed her hand on Pattinson's leg. Casual gesture or flirty signal? She also happens to know quite a bit about the more intimate material in Pattinson's upcoming film, "Bel Ami," in which he shares heated scenes with Kristin Scott Thomas, Uma Thurman and Christina Ricci.
"[T]hey're not like typical love scenes at all," Pattinson said.
Do you think Kristen and Robert are together? Is it any of our business? Sound off in the comments.
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Monday, May 10, 2010
Reality starlet pleads to burglarizing Bloom house
By ANTHONY McCARTNEY
The Associated Press
Monday, May 10, 2010; 2:26 PM
LOS ANGELES -- A reality starlet accused of burglarizing Orlando Bloom's house pleaded no contest Monday to felony burglary and was sentenced to up to six months in county jail after reaching a deal with prosecutors.
Alexis Neiers, 18, an aspiring model who has been the subject of the E! Entertainment Television reality show "Pretty Wild," entered the plea shortly before her trial was slated to begin. Bloom, star of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Lord of the Rings" film franchises, had been expected to testify.
As part of the deal, Neiers was sentenced to three years of formal probation and six months in county jail for the July break-in. She also agreed to stay away from Bloom and his Hollywood Hills home.
She will begin serving her sentence June 24. She had rejected plea deals that required jail time but was facing up to six years in state prison if convicted at trial.
She could be sent to state prison for two years if she violates probation, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Peter Espinoza said.
"After lengthy considerations and fighting the best pretrial fight we could, we decided it was in Alexis' best interests to take responsibility for her small part in this incident," her attorney Jeffery K. Rubenstein said.
Neiers is among six people accused of targeting homes of celebrities such as Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and Rachel Bilson and stealing millions in jewelry, clothing and other luxury goods.
Some of the items pilfered from Bloom's home, including two expensive watches, have not been recovered. Neiers may be responsible for part of up to $680,000 in restitution that may be ordered to be paid in the case, but her share may also be deemed minimal.
Three of the other people charged in the burglary at Bloom's home have not yet gone to trial. Neiers told police she was drunk when she went to the house and didn't take anything there.
Rubenstein said Neiers is planning to move on with her life and will not have any involvement in the other burglary cases.
Rubenstein said Bloom's expected testimony was a factor in Neiers' plea.
"Orlando Bloom's willingness to come testify did not help our case," Rubenstein said. He added that prosecutors appeared to have enough evidence to convict Neiers.
"We thought this was a just result," Deputy District Attorney Sarika Kim said after the hearing.
A preliminary hearing for the remaining defendants is scheduled for May 25.
Eds: CORRECTS probation term is three years, sted two. ADDS details from hearing, quotes from attorney, prosecutors. Moving on general news and entertainment services.
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Monday, May 3, 2010
Playboy's Hugh Hefner helps rescue Hollywood sign
Good morning. its may! wow this year has gone by sooo fast its not even funny. Aww Hef is soo sweet! and always shared a love classic Hollywood icons.
Reuters) - Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner on Monday donated the last $900,000 sought by a conservation group for a land purchase needed to save the famed vista of the Hollywood sign from being spoiled by development.
U.S. | People
Hefner's key role in reaching the group's fund-raising goal was announced by Los Angeles city officials, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the San Francisco-based Trust for Public Land at a news conference in the Hollywood Hills.
The land trust needed to collect a total of $12.5 million by this Friday under a deal with a group of Chicago investors who bought the 1,820-foot (555-meter) ridge, called Cahuenga Peak, from the estate of billionaire Howard Hughes in 2002.
The trust will now purchase the 138-acre (56-hectare) adjacent parcel and turn it over to the city to be incorporated into the surrounding Griffith Park, preventing any construction that would mar the postcard-perfect view of the Hollywood sign nearby.
"My childhood dreams and fantasies came from the movies, and the images created in Hollywood had a major influence on my life and Playboy," Hefner said in a statement. "As I've said before, the Hollywood sign is Hollywood's Eiffel Tower and I'm pleased to help preserve such an important cultural landmark."
Other private donors to the Hollywood sign preservation effort included actor Tom Hanks and director Steven Spielberg, the land trust said.
(Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Todd Eastham)
U.S.People
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